Student interns support the Mayor’s Entrepreneur competition

International students are among a group of interns promoting the Mayor of London’s 2018 Entrepreneur competition at their universities.

The competition, which has been running for six years, asks students and recent graduates from London’s universities to put forward ideas that could make London a better place to live and work. The winners receive £20,000 to bring their idea to life, with mentoring and business development support from the expert judges as well.

This year, with the support of the competition’s sponsor Citi Foundation, twenty interns have been recruited to spread the word about the contest within their universities. The paid positions allow the interns to run events, distribute leaflets, create a social media presence – and anything else they believe will encourage students to enter their ideas.

Several international students are among the interns, from China, Italy, India, Nigeria and Poland among others. At their recent induction day at London’s City Hall, they talked about their excitement at taking part in such a dynamic event. Claudia, who is from Italy, and studying at Goldsmiths, University of London, said, “It’s a chance to focus outside my college and engage more widely with London – which is such a welcoming city.” Adna, from the Netherlands, is at Queen Mary University of London, and plans to make the most of the opportunity to gain work experience and improve her networking skills: “It’s cool to meet so many people from other universities – I want to bring all the campuses together to find the best ideas for the competition.”

Xinyi, from China, is studying Biochemistry at UCL. “Being in London is a great experience – I love the culture, history and architecture. This internship will help me develop my management and organisational abilities – important as I pursue my studies and when I start my future career.”

“It’s great to see the students so passionate about their internships,” says Sally Dagli, Programme Manager at the GLA, who organises the competition on behalf of the Mayor. “We know they will come up with creative and imaginative ideas to promote the competition, and their energy and enthusiasm are infectious. In return, they get to see a different side of London, and put City Hall on their CVs. It’s fantastic for both sides!”

Read about previous winners here, and find out how to enter this year’s competition here.

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